At Google I/O, Logitech was said to be building set-top boxes, while Sony was said to have been building TVs and Blu-Ray players with GoogleTV. A new FCC doc seems to show a Sony stand-alone device.
Engadget uncovered a FCC filing this morning that shows a Sony box sitting on a workstation (below) with a separate label ‘Internet TV Box’ pictured at right.
That sounds very GoogleTV-ish. Are we looking at Sony’s Google TV?
Another interesting bit of information: The ‘confidentiality’ of the FCC documents (and the FCC obviously uses that term loosely) expires in September. That seems to fit in line with the GoogleTV’s Fall launch.
The device doesn’t appear to be a HDTV by any stretch of the imagination and it doesn’t contain a Blu-Ray disc reader. None of the attached FCC documentation mentions ‘Blu-Ray’ once. That means that the device, as pictured below, squarely competes with Logitech’s GoogleTV device.
At I/O, the device manufactures were clearly aligned into separate paths. Logitech was building the set-top boxes while Sony was building BluRays and HDTVs. If Sony starts selling a set top box as well, Logitech could get squeezed.
Alternative endings/explanations of this box:
- Sony is making an alternative to GoogleTV on its own. SonyTV with Internet TV technology with Intel’s Smart TV built-in™.
- That box had Blu-Ray hardware on it but the FCC lifted it off to stare at its guts.
- Sony only sent over the GoogleTV bits because the BluRay wasn’t needed for FCC clearance.
I’ve reached out to Logitech and Sony for comment.
